Ward Sets New 100 Fly Record

AUSTIN, Texas –Andrea Ward set a new UC Santa Barbara record in the 100 butterfly to highlight Thursday action at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational in Austin, Texas.

The sophomore broke her own record in the event, touching the wall in 53.38 seconds. She shaved .45 seconds off of her previous record and secured an NCAA 'B' cut in the process. Ward placed 10th in the event.

After the first day of competition at the meet, the Gaucho men are in fourth place with 94 points. The women are in eighth with 29 points.

The evening's finals opened with the 200 free relay. The men's team of Chris Peterson, Kevin Kuhn, Garrett Thompson and Kevin Ferguson posted a time of 1:18.27, an NCAA 'B' cut, which was good for a fourth-place finish.

In addition to Ward, Allie Knight also qualified for an evening swim in the 100 fly. She placed 31st and touched the wall in 56.36. She swam a slightly faster time of 55.58 in the event's preliminaries.

Max Horrell represented the Gaucho men in the 100 fly and placed 19th in 48.89 seconds.

In the 500 free, Andrew Barmann took 16th place with a time of 4:31.88, which was just .86 seconds off of his prelims time.

Sophia Yamauchi posted an NCAA 'B' cut in the 200 individual medley, touching the wall in 2:01.19. She took 21st. Both Randy Aakhus and Evan Simoni qualified for the consolation final in the men's 200 IM. Aakhus posted a 'B' cut time of 1:49.13 and took 12th. Simoni placed 16th in 1:51.28. He had posted a time of 1:49.32 in the prelims.

The Gauchos' saw their top finish of the day in the men's 50 free in which Chris Peterson took fourth with his mark of 19.69. Kevin Ferguson took 11th in 19.99 seconds and Garrett Thompson took 13th in 20.20. All three swimmers earned 'B' cuts. Chase Lemley (20.85 finals, 20.53 prelims) and Alex Campbell (20.67) took 24th and 35th, respectively.

The evening concluded with the 400 medley relay. The women's team of Knight, Yamauchi, Ward and Neely placed 11th in 3:43. 84. The men's squad of Aakhus, Simoni, Horrell and Peterson took 10th in 3:17.93.